PSE&G balks at cost of burying East Hampton power line

Long Island energy insists residents foot $30 million bill

From left: East Hampton power lines and Dave Daly
From left: East Hampton power lines and Dave Daly

If the residents of East Hampton want to bury the overhead electric line being installed through the town and village, they’ll have to foot the bill, the head of Long Island’s energy utility company said in a letter to East Hampton residents Friday.

The privately-owned Public Service Electric and Gas Company, which operates the municipal electric utility Long Island Power Authority, met with residents last month to discuss construction alternatives for a six-mile transmission line strung up by 65-foot-tall poles between the East Hampton and Amagansett substations.

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Although the utility company has been working on construction for months already, residents want the line run underground, which PSE&G said would cost more than $30 million. The utility company’s president, Dave Daly, told residents in a letter that PSE&G will bury the 23,000-volt line — if residents pay for it, Newsday reported.

Residents of the town, home to some of the country’s priciest real estate, have been trying to halt the project since February, according to to the news site. [Newsday]Angela Hunt